


Winter Storm

by ShatteredSwallowtail



Series: Taming Dragons [22]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28411575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShatteredSwallowtail/pseuds/ShatteredSwallowtail
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood
Series: Taming Dragons [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733218
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Winter Storm

Yet another night with sleep an elusive prize a mere fingers width beyond his reach left the dragoon with little to do. The warm weight of his sleeping husband sprawled across him made any endeavors that required movement little more than fancies for his restless mind. He had little doubt that Aymeric would understand well his restlessness, yet even without the words being spoken he knew that his lord fretted unconsciously when Estinien was not without reach during his slumber. That knowledge was enough to steer him away from any thoughts of more active pursuits that didn’t involve his husband. And as for the more active pursuits that _did_ involve him… he’d already woken the Lord Commander several hours earlier with those activities on his mind. And while Aymeric had been only too delighted to indulge him until they were both sated, he was smugly aware that he’d plainly worn his husband out.

A fact that he was quite rightfully proud of, if he did say so himself. And yet, that fact also made another thing clear; he couldn’t very well wake Aymeric up and ask for a repeat without enduring a modicum of teasing about how insatiable he was - as if the whoreson wasn’t even more so - with likely the same ending. Wherein Aymeric passed out cold from exhaustion and he remained regretfully and annoyingly awake.

Heaving another sigh, Estinien cast red eyes towards the window panes, watching as the snow and wind lashed at the house from the elements outside. Thunderstorms with snow were hardly anything unusual to him, but his restless mind could appreciate their scarcity anywhere outside of Ishgard. At least the howling winds and crashing thunder had served as ample noise to muffle the desperate cries he had coaxed from his husband hours before. Not that he didn’t love every single moan and whimper and sobbed cry of his name; quite the contrary. Yet when one considered that their home was no longer vacant of any other parties - the damned cat didn’t count - it was perhaps prudent to be more mindful of the cacophony they sometimes caused in their enjoyment of each other. Lest curious ears and eyes learn much more than what they should at such a tender age.

That line of thought twirled his mind back to the most recent developments in the complicated muddle that his life had become, and Estinien sighed as he gave an idle caress to Aymeric’s black curls. Halone forfend that his life remain simple and uncomplicated, yet though he’d die before admitting any such thing...he treasured every unexpected twist and layer that the world seemed intent on throwing at him. After all, had things remained simple...he would be in a very different place right now. Likely bedded down on cold hard ground in some faraway land. Alone and ignorant of what he could have had. Not nestled on a soft featherdown mattress, with the warm comfort of Aymeric wrapped around him. Under the roof of a home that was _theirs_ , that he had built with his own hands… and with a young daughter in the next room to theirs.

None of those things would he have even thought to consider as featuring in his future. Not even because how dare he expect such luxury for himself, but...because even the possibility of such things had been so far outside the realm of his imaginings that those images could never have formed within his mind. And while there had come costs that he would have avoided if possible...neither could he deny that whatever costs the universe required of him were worth it for this sphere of happiness he had been granted.  
The thunder cracked loud overhead again and the entire room lit up with a bright flare that drew his gaze to the door to Yasha’s room. The door that had been closed long before he and Aymeric had bedded down together and which was now ajar. Estinien narrowed his eyes as the door creaked softly and his sharp ears picked up a faint whimpered sob from the other side of it even as he was silently grateful that they’d had the foresight to properly redress for bed after their nocturnal activities.

“Yasha?”

The question was less a question and more a confirmation; after all, it wasn’t as though someone else would be on the other side of that door and his words were acknowledged with another whimpered ‘Papa’ before the thunder crashed and the small black-haired figure tore across the room with a sob to attach herself to him.

His reactions to such outbursts, while getting better, were still stiff and uncoordinated and so the dragoon momentarily froze as Yasha’s small arms wound around his waist and she buried her face against his side with a whimper. Did she have a nightmare, perhaps? She certainly showed no predilection for them as he and Aymeric did, but if he recalled correctly it was a thing that plagued many small children on a case to case basis. Or perhaps she had been frightened by the storm? That seemed at the same time both logical and ridiculous. While it was another common childhood fear, she’d certainly experienced storms before. They were irritatingly common on the Steppe where she was from, as he himself had experienced during his wanderings.

Even as his brain tried to logic out the reasoning behind her frankly odd behaviour, he found himself relaxing as he scooped her up onto his lap to ease the awkward angle she was pulling him into. Well….at least now he wasn’t suffering from restless boredom anymore, though it was debatable which scenario was better as he sighed and petted her hair a little awkwardly. Aymeric was much better at this than he was, and he would have just woken his husband up. Except that to do so would be to admit to the smug bastard that he was completely out of his element right now. Which would earn him a sigh, a roll of eyes, and a reminder that they had _both_ made the decision to adopt the girl and that he should begin to have more confidence in his ability to care for her on an emotional level rather than merely a physical one.

Frankly, he thought Aymeric was a smug, conniving son of a bitch. Mostly because he was right, even if Estinien would sooner cut off his own arm than admit it.

So instead of nudging his lord awake, he shifted just enough to make Yasha more comfortable as he continued to pet her hair, his other arm wrapping around her in an attempt at comfort. The questions he had begun to formulate in his mind evaporated as another loud peal of thunder shook the house and Yasha buried her face in his chest with another sobbed cry. “I don’t want it to get me…”

That...was not entirely what he had expected and for a moment the dragoon was at a loss. Didn’t want _what_ to ‘get her’, exactly? The thunder? That was the most logical explanation, and seemed to confirm his suspicions that she was frightened of the noise. Only she had never behaved in such a way the numerous other times there had been storms in Ishgard. Perhaps because this was a significantly worse gale than most of the others? Either way, the simplest route to an answer was simply to ask her and he did his best to gently coax her face away from his chest so that he could meet her teary gaze, voice soft as he asked.

“You don’t want what to get you? The thunder? It does not have that capability, so there is no need to be afraid of it.”

Yasha frowned, sniffling through her tears as she considered his words only to jump and whimper again as another roaring boom shook the house and more tears overflowed. “It’s a Rath’los…”

A...rathalos? That made...not a whit of sense to him, until he recalled that one of the traits ascribed to the beast was a roar that was powerful enough to stun even the largest of prey that it preferred. Though why would she assume the thunder was such a thing, when she had obviously heard storms before... but then, he supposed that not all storms sounded the same. The ones off the coast of Kugane had certainly been much different than the gales that hammered Coerthas during the winter, and while he was a man grown and possessing that knowledge… Yasha was not. Sparing a glance for his still unconscious husband, Estinien sighed softly as he scooped the child closer to his chest and began to rock her gently.

“Peace, Hatchling… it is not a rathalos that you hear. Only a winter storm. They sound different here than in your homeland, and while I am sure that is frightening, you need not fear that anything will ‘get’ you. I would not allow it.”

Hopefully that was comforting to her, because reassurance was hardly his strong suit and Estinien bit back a frustrated groan as another peal of thunder had her quivering and burying her face in his chest again as she sought refuge from the storm. This would be solved much more quickly if she would only go back to sleep, but he harboured no illusions that he knew how to facilitate such a thing. And his mental suggestion that she simply cease acting silly and go to bed he had little doubt would only make things worse.

So engrossed in trying to puzzle out a solution was he, that Estinien almost jumped out of his skin when Aymeric shifted beside him to sit up a little and scoot closer. Wrapping his arm around Yasha as well as he pulled her to snuggle down between the two of them and began to softly sing a lullaby to the terrified child. One that Estinien recognized, and even found himself absently humming along to every so often as he caught Aymeric’s blue gaze before they both watched the exhausted Xaela child gradually drift off to sleep as her soft hiccupping whimpers quieted. Now that Yasha finally asleep again, he didn’t give his husband the chance to make some sort of smug comment before he spoke up himself, keeping his tone a whisper.

“So that _was_ you.”

Whatever Aymeric had been about to say, he paused to raise an eyebrow at his husband in confusion. An obvious request for clarification that Estinien indulged with a faint nod. “After Nidhogg’s defeat, when I was recovering… I remember that song. I thought it a dream, honestly. Some fragment of my subconscious that I had merely imagined. But it was you...wasn’t it? Singing to me while I slept.”

At the explanation, Aymeric’s cheeks reddened slightly as he cleared his throat with a faint smile. “I didn’t realize you’d heard me at all. Yes… I was there. Every moment that I could get away from my duties. For a time...no one knew if you would wake at all, and I thought… that perhaps you needed something to tie you back to us. So I would talk to you...often nothing of consequence, just...an unceasing litany of my daily tasks. Sometimes...more important things. Memories we shared...dreams I had… things that at the time I was too cowardly to voice. And sometimes… I sang to you. Usually when the fear threatened to overwhelm me. When I was most terrified to lose you. The nursemaid that raised me used to sing that song to me when I was upset or frightened. That’s why I thought it might soothe Yasha.”

He nodded at the sleeping child, but Estinien’s focus was on his husband as he swallowed back a lump that had risen up in his throat at the heartfelt admission from Aymeric. “I never knew for sure that you were there, but...sometimes I would draw near to waking and swear that I could sense you close. Thank you….for not giving up on me. For...so many things, Bluebird.” Further words were beyond his ability at the moment, but Aymeric seemed to understand as he carefully leaned over their daughter to press his lips to Estinien’s in a tender kiss. “Giving up on you is something that I would never be able to do. And I never will.” Glancing down at Yasha again, he gave a gentle pet to her hair as he tucked her in further. “Let’s let her sleep here for the night.”

That seemed...quite acceptable, and he nodded as he carefully shifted to curl himself back around both of them. The little girl between them and Aymeric’s head pillowed against his shoulder as he fought back a yawn. It seemed the ever elusive sleep had finally deigned to pay him a visit, and Estinien gave it an appropriate mental gesture before closing his eyes with a contented sigh.


End file.
